Jennifer C. Lai

Dr. Jennifer C. Lai is a Professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine, specializing in Transplant Hepatology and Geriatrics. She serves as Director of Hepatology Research at UCSF and leads the ARCH (Advancing Research in Clinical Hepatology) program, while also directing the Patient-Facing Research Core at the NIH-funded UCSF Liver Center.

• Stanford University (B.S.)
• Tufts University School of Medicine (MD/MBA)
• Columbia University Medical Center (Internal Medicine Residency)
• UCSF (Gastroenterology & Transplant Hepatology Fellowships, 2011-2012)

Her research focuses on integrating geriatric assessments (frailty, sarcopenia, multimorbidity) into liver transplant protocols, addressing organ allocation disparities, and optimizing donor quality metrics. She pioneered the Liver Frailty Index, a tool to predict mortality risk in cirrhosis patients, and leads the NIH-funded FrAILT Study.

Recent publications highlight her work on AI applications in hepatology, telemedicine frailty tools, and socioeconomic factors affecting transplant outcomes. She has secured continuous NIH funding since 2013, including R01 and K24 grants.

• AGA Young Investigator Award (2020)
• AST Clinical Science Career Development Award (2016)
• Top 40 Under 40 Bay Area Leader (2015)
• NIH R01 & K24 grants

Dr. Lai mentors clinical researchers through her NIH K24 mid-career grant and leads the Lai Liver Lab. Her work bridges hepatology, geriatrics, and data science to improve pre- and post-transplant care.